[Cboldt]

That is beyond doubt but impeachment cannot be for ideological or what the Founders called "political" grounds. It must remain solely for those guilty of falling away from "good behavior." Lord knows how that is defined now days.

From the founding of the United States, efforts to impeach judges have at times been based on political, rather than legal, standards. The case of Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Chase is a prime example of the danger of political battles affecting the impeachment process.

http://www.constitutionproject.org/ci/newsroom_guide/29.htm <-- Link

The article describes the impeachment proceedings of 12 federal judges (all of the judicial impeachments, I believe. Good arguments have been made on both sides, i.e., that impeachment should not be political, and that impeachment is meant to be political.

[justshutupandtakeit]

It was pretty much agreed by the Founders that it was not acceptible to impeach for "political" reasons because the Court was considered outside of politics. This doctrine was taken so seriously that Congress would not even remove an insane alcoholic judge, Pickering I believe, early in the Republic's history.

Chase actually could have been removed legitimately because his behavior on the bench was abusive and biased IMO.